


The one with dinner and wine

by akachankami



Series: Shippers Anonymous [1]
Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 19:22:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11698260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akachankami/pseuds/akachankami
Summary: Prompt:They were on their way down the village main street after finishing their shopping when the skies opened up and it began to pour. Charles pulled Elsie into the warmth of the Grantham Arms. "Looks as though we might have to settle in for a bit, what say we have dinner and wait for the storm to pass?" he asked shaking the rain from his hat. The imperious butler ordered a sumptuous supper along with a fine bottle of wine which seemed to be going straight to Elsie's head.





	The one with dinner and wine

The storm came and went when they were only halfway through their meal but neither of them remarked it, their chatting was just too distracting and the wine blushed their faces and loosened their tongues enough for him to openly laugh at her funny story of when she was first training a maid in a place he could never remember the name again.

She didn't even register him offering her the meal, but she sure remembers thinking he did it so smoothly it was probably something he was used to back in the days and when they exited in the open street it suddenly felt like a date. The cool breeze carrying the smell of rain sobered her a bit, just enough to recognize her state out loud: "I don't think I can walk all the way back to the house, my head is spinning." she giggled.

Thinking about it now Elsie frowns at her boldness but cannot really say she minds it. She did take his hand instead of his elbow when he suggested the night bus and she even leaned in his bulky figure while they walked to the bus stop, he felt so solid and warm… she might have been a little silly, she admits it.

The bus never came and they discovered only later that they waited on the wrong spot and missed the last ride but at that time it really didn't matter.

They were tipsy and happy and away from prying eyes. And that's how they ended at the old mill by the stream…

Elsie doesn't mind that Charles fell asleep on her, the laughs and the awkward exploring and the few tentative kisses they shared the night before are more than enough to tell her it was no accident. She smiles taking a straw out of his now messy hair and watches him sleep in the early light of the morning.

She always loved summer storms. And wine. And Charles.


End file.
